#ma'am i went too hard

[decennia]

Okay I need to know more about Socorro! Tell me about her relationship with Regulus and her marriage to Evan pls <3

SOCORRO AND REGULUS ARE OTP, I SAID WHAT I SAID, AND I SAY IT WITH MY WHOLE CHEST

In the words of Nick Cave, "it started out as a bit of fun."

Socorro is a year younger than the Marauders, but a year older than Regulus.

She and the Sallows were invited to many a dinner party at The Black's.

Regulus always thought she would be shallow and boring, like so many other pretty things he'd encountered. He never cared much for excess and wealth, he had enough of it himself, and beauty was something that easily faded.

The summer before school started, Regulus' interest was piqued when he noticed Socorro being kind to Kreacher.

They only spoke that following year, the beginning of her fifth, and his fourth. She'd come in late to the welcome feast, and he hadn't been able to take her eyes off of her. Lockhart pointed it out, at which Socorro, being Socorro, demanded to know what he had been looking at.

"Alright, Black. Gilderoy and I, we have a bit of a bet going on. You're staring at one of us. Given that we're both equally pretty, it's really no surprise. Which of us is it?"

"I—" He'd considered lying, calling her out on her vanity. But she was right. He had been staring. "Uh... You. I was looking at you. Just you."

She had smiled, and he thought he'd melt, because it was warmer than any smile he'd received before. "Well, that's a shame. You just cost me ten galleons, I thought I had you dead to rights on Lockhart's hair alone."

Coincidentally ("are you following me, Black?"), they both frequented the library. Especially at times they shouldn't.

It became such a common occurrence for them to run into each other that they would get quite crestfallen if they didn't see each other.

Lots of stolen glances and "accidental" hand grazes. Very innocent, a pure kind of love.

They didn't know when it happened, but one day, as if waking from a dream, they came to the realization that they spent every day together. They'd even taken it out of the library — walks along the Black Lake, picnics by the Quidditch pitch, weekend afternoons spent at Hogsmeade, tasting every tester at Honeydukes.

She'd kissed him first. It was her last day, and he'd come over to congratulate her on her graduation and the job she'd been lined up for at the Ministry. He'd gotten her a parting gift, a silver bracelet (which she never took off). But she was sad for other reasons. Ichabod Sallow had told her, in the same breath as "well done for not tarnishing the family name more than your mere existence already has" (perhaps the biggest and only compliment she had and ever will receive from him other than passing remarks about her appearance), about her engagement to Evan Rosier (arranged, of course).

The kiss was sweet, and chaste. A mere brush of the lips, but Regulus swore he had been engulfed by Fiendfyre.

He couldn't stop thinking about it for the next year. He chided himself on being so consumed by her, but it couldn't be helped.

The next time they saw each other had been at the wedding. His family had been invited, and although he knew what torture it would be, he would gladly accept just to see her again.

Socorro had been so delighted to see him. She'd (half) jokingly asked him to steal her away, maybe elope with her to France.

He wouldn't let her know how tempted he'd been.

Regulus isn't very good with emotions, so sometimes, the odd cruel remark would fall from his lips. He never knew who he was more mad at; himself, or Socorro. The answer is always himself.

He'd always apologise.

He would visit her at the Ministry, take her out for impromptu and entirely platonic (but not really) lunches.

She was the first to notice that something was wrong with Regulus.

Especially when he'd shown up on her doorstep, body wracked in shivers and sobs, unable to keep himself standing as he slumped against her doorframe, babbling profusely about what he'd just witnessed.

He'd shown her the Dark Mark, freshly branded and raw on his arm. If his blood caked hands were any indication, she knew what he'd just done. She knew all too well, because she also had to buy the Dark Lord's trust in blood.

She'd helped him clean his hands of the red. He couldn't stop shaking.

When his breath and hands had stilled, he told her what he'd done.

He told her he'd cried.

He wasn't ashamed of that, he was only eighteen.

But he'd been made to feel ashamed of it, because they were mudbloods, and they were thieving his birthrite, and Bellatrix, why don't you teach him a lesson?

There were no physical signs of the Cruciatus Curse, other than the aftershocks of tremulous hiccoughs and red-rimmed hollowed eyes.

He'd kissed her.

Desperate, all need, like a drowning man gasping for air, or an alcoholic chasing down their sadness with intoxication.

When they'd broken apart, she'd been silent. Embarrassed, he'd left.

He avoided her for weeks after that. And then he showed up again, only to apologize.

He ended up confessing his love, by some wicked turn of events.

She was his first.

And last.

She also believes she is responsible for his death.

She never stopped loving him.

He died with her name on his lips.

ON THE COMPLETE OTHER SIDE OF THE SPECTRUM WE HAVE EVAN AND SOCORRO WHO ARE LIKE... JUST REALLY DYSFUNCTIONAL

Arranged marriage, of course, because I am a hoe for the trope.

She's a halfblood, which he fucking hates.

Much of their turmoil comes from this, see quotes: "You will only ever be loved half of what you think you deserve. By me, by everyone" and "Do not mistake my tolerance for love. Never forget that you are replaceable."

Only she isn't as replaceable as he'd have her think, because although she's a halfblood, she's also a very skilled Legilimens, and also has a position at the Ministry as Junior Assistant to the High Inquisitor, one of Tom Riddle's biggest adversaries, Miraya Patil. She, along with Augustus Rookwood, are instrumental in this war.

Hence the marriage; keep her close. Rosier had no choice but to obey his Dark Lord.

When it comes to Socorro, he has one rule: they will fuck, but she will never have his child. He would rather his line end with him than have her muggle blood continue it.

He's constantly having affairs. Alecto Carrow is a favourite of his for keeping his bed warm. Socorro pretends to not know, to avoid the humiliation, but it's hard when you can read people's thoughts and Rita Skeeter won't shut up about who's been spotted snogging whom in the underground wizarding club, The Boggart's Closet.

When he first met her, he thought she was beautiful. He still does, but that's all she is to him; something beautiful that he owns.

She vanished six months before the wedding, and returned five days before. The wedding proceeded as usual. Evan and Riddle are the only ones who know where she went and why.

He played the part of loving husband well when they attended dinner parties. That is, until he was slipping away to some empty room where Alecto Carrow was waiting.

He played the part of doting fiancé well, too, when they'd initially been engaged. So well, it even fooled her. She would later realise it was because she wanted so desperately to believe it, that she could still have love. She was wrong.

She tried very hard to make it work for the first few months, but was constantly rebuffed.

And just as she grew cold, he grew hot.

Evan ends up developing a begrudging respect for her, and even believes he's fallen in love with her. It's hard not to when Socorro is the way she is; she has a way of being exactly what you want or need. She chameleons herself into Evan's ideal woman (barring blood status) because how else would she survive him?

She cares about him as a stranger would someone in their circle. More a "thank god it wasn't me" than a "why couldn't it have been me."

She gets over his death fairly quickly.

But still leaves a single black rose on his grave on his wedding anniversary.